New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski was seen briefly sporting a fake beard in the locker room in celebration of Halloween.

Gronkowski and the Patriots hope not to get spooked by the Pittsburgh Steelers come Sunday.

The Steelers come into Gillette Stadium with just a 2-5 record and dead last in the AFC North Division.

Just like any other team in the NFL, Pittsburgh can be a threat to New England.

“I think the Steelers are a dangerous team,” Patriots rookie cornerback Logan Ryan said. “They have an experienced quarterback, they have pretty skilled receivers and they are always looking to run the ball. We definitely need to be prepared, which we are. We still have work to do up till the game.”

Roethlisberger — who has Heath Miller, Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown as receivers — has thrown for 12 touchdown passes with just three interceptions in six career games against the Patriots. He needs one more touchdown pass to become the second quarterback in Pittsburgh history to record 200 touchdown passes. Terry Bradshaw was the first one to do it (212).

“I think their offense is definitely an explosive group with a lot of big play receivers,” New England head coach Bill Belichick said. “They have (Heath) Miller back at tight end, of course (Ben) Roethlisberger is a handful to deal with — strong guy, who is really hard to tackle. They have good depth at the running back position, all three of those guys have contributed.”

The Steelers are ranked fourth overall in the NFL in total defense and second against the pass.

That doesn’t bode well for Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, although he has played well in his last three meetings against the black and gold — throwing nine touchdown passes with no interceptions.

Brady’s 116 yards passing last Sunday against the Dolphins were his fewest in four years.

“We have to be more consistent,” Brady said. “Hopefully this is our best week to be able to do that. We got off to a good start in practice, so we’ll see how it goes.”

New England safety Devin McCourty said the Steelers’ record is deceiving.

“In this league, wins are hard to come by,” McCourty said. “We come in each week and get team’s best punches. We know teams are prepared to play this game. I think from the outside looking in, people get a perception of a team. No one likes losing. I don’t care what your record is. You’re a competitor and you want to play hard.”

Several members of the Patriots marvelled at the Boston Red Sox’s accomplishment Wednesday night against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Page 2 of 2 - “I think that’s awesome,” McCourty said. “For them to win, represent the city and go out and get a big win. I think it makes everything crazy in here. It’s always fun to be in a winning city and have things go well around here.”

Ryan was happy that there wasn’t a Game 7 Thursday night and he could enjoy Halloween.

“The Red Sox handled business last night,” he said. “I’m happy for that and I don’t have to watch any games. I’ll just take it easy and stick to my weekly routine. I’ll have some candy and wait for trick-or-treaters.”